Being Funny

As writers, it’s very hard to make people laugh. Yet if you can be funny on the page, readers will follow you almost anywhere. In this generative class encompassing both fiction and memoir, we’ll discuss what makes comedy such a powerful artistic tool to illuminate the mysteriousness of life. We’ll do in-class writing (and a little voluntary performing), as well as short out-of-class assignments, and look at some very funny writing by authors such as George Saunders, Flannery O’Connor, and Jane Austen. Writers of all fiction and nonfiction welcome.

Michael Shilling is the author of Rock Bottom, a novel published by Little, Brown. The musical adaptation of the book was staged in 2014 by the Landless Theater Company. His stories have appeared in The Sun, Fugue, and Other Voices.

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